


'- "^^0^ t^^ 








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"hV 




THE ADDRESS 

OF THE 

Society of Constitutional Republicans, 

y 

ESTABLISHED IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA, 

TO THE 

REPUBLICANS OF PENNSTLVANIA, 

UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED AND ADOPTED 

At a general meeting of the Society in the City of Philadelphia, 

ON MONDAY, THE 10th OF JUNE, 1806. 



PHJLADELP HIA : 2 
PRINTED BY WILLIAM M'CORKLE^ 
At the office of the Freeman's Journalj 
N». 21, Walnot-Stujext. 

iSOiT, 



c'- 






<r^ \ 



THE ADDRESS. &c. 



FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS, 

AFTER an arduous contest in support of those principles of 
civil liberty, to which the Revolution gave birth ; during 
the first period of a triumph, that conferred the Executive and 
Legislative authority of the nation, upon patriots of our own 
choice ; while the character of the American People, and of 
their Government, is rising, with unrivalled lustre, in the esti- 
mation of the wise and the good throughout the world ; and in 
the ripe season of domestic prosperity, presenting its blessings 
as the reward of virtue and industry, without distinction of per- 
sons, places, or pursuits ; — who can hear, without surprize, the 
cry of social discontent ; or view, without apprehension, a spi- 
rit of political innovation? But the painful crisis has arrived! 
Amidst all our inducements to preserve harmony and peace, the 
standard of discord has been wantonly unfurled. By specious 
tales of imaginary wrongs, you have been urged to doubt the 
reality of the happiness you enjoy. In the hope of substituting 
the glitter of impracticable theories, for the steady light of expe- 
rience, the fundamental laws and constitutions of the land, are 
assailed. The wreath of honor, placed by yourselves upon the 
browof sages andof chiefs, is rudely violated by strange and ob- 
trusive hands. And the Republican Party of Penns^'lvania 
(out-running the opprobrious prediction of its enemies) seems 
eager to become the speedy instrument of its own destruction. 

The evil, thus distinctly traced, is great ; but, Fellow-Citi- 
zens, it is not incurable. Reflecting upon the origin and pro- 
gress of the scheme to subvert our Government, and to degrade 
our Patriots; the motives, the means, and the number, of its 
authors and supporters ; the very nature of the influence, which 
has beguiled some honest and respectable Citizens to its aid ; 
and the irresistible force of reason and truth, in developing the 
fatal consequences, with which it teems ; you will be convinced 
that there is yet safety, by an appeal to the virtue, intelligence, 
and power of the people. In countries, whose over-grown 
Population, is tainted with crimes, and enervated by want ; — 



[ 4 ] 

where the inequalities of property and of rank, produce envy, oh 
the one hand, and contumely, on the other; where labour has 
no excitement for its movements, nor any security for its accu- 
iriui.itions ; and where, in a struggle, to be emancipated from 
oppression, the end is deemed a suiTicient sanction for all the 
m'-ans, th:it can be emploved to attain it ; the smallest spark of 
Political enthusiasm naturally kindles into a blaze ; and the 
puMic tranquility is forever held, at the mercy of individuals, 
sanguine, bold, 'and aspiring. Far different, however, is the 
condition of Penns\'lvrinia, where no material change can be 
projt^.ctfd, without involving the hazard of a material injury ; 
and the Peoide, neither insensible to the bounties of Providence, 
nor regardless of the dictates of prudence, will hear, examine, 
and decide for themselves. Encountering this ordeal, the cla- 
mour, which h:!.s been suddenly raised, must as rapidly pass 
awav ; and, like a summer's storm, serve only, by its concus- 
sion, to purifv and enliven the political atmosphere. 

Behold, then, Fellow-Citizens, in the history of the exist- 
ing crisis, as well the ground of consolation, as the source of 
your affliction. During the memorable period, in which the 
Republican party strove to rescue our civil institutions from 
danger, and to enforce the right pf participation, in the service 
and honours of our country ; a principle of concert and concilia- 
tion, gave life, and confidence, and effect, to all our plans and 
operations. But no sooner were the stations of power and pa- 
tronage, occupied by distinguished Republicans ; scarcely had 
the auspicious inauguration of 1801, been celebrated : nor, in- 
deed, had the toils of the recent conflict, ceased to require re- 
laxation and repose ; when symptoms of ambition and intrigue ; 
of jealousy and discontent ; of disunion and disorder ; awaken- 
ed the patriotic mind, to a sense of new troubles, and new sor- 
rows. The distinction then became obvious between those 
Republicans, who had fought for the cau^e, and those who had 
only fought for themselves. With some nierit, on the score of 
service, but with more pretension, from the desire of remune- 
ration, a small but active CoMBiNATiOiV or Malcontents was 
formed, to influence, or controul, the measures of Government : 
And these men (in their career, presumptuous, intrepid, and 
persevering) have deemed no claim too extravagant to be ad- 
vanced ; no artifice too mean to be employed ; no obstacle too 
great to be surmounted. While they have marked, for popular 
scorn and suspicion, every other citizen in public employment, 
their business, and pleasure, and pride, have been the designa- 
tion of offices for themselves, and the hungry circle of their ad- 
herents. The highest have not been above the soarings of their 
vanity ; nor are the lowest beneath the cravings of their indi- 
gence. The cabinet of State, and the direction of a Bank ; the 
desk of the Customs, and the bench of a Court ; the magistra- 
cy of a City, and the clerkships of a Department ; contracts for 
public supplies, and agencies for charitable institutions ; niili- 
tary commissions, and medical appointments ; have been, alike, 
the aim, the hope, or the solace, of their labours. 



E 5 ] 

Although the object of the combination, which we deprecate* 
may be thus regarded as single (the self-aggrandizement of its 
members) the arts that have been practised to accomplish it, 
have been numerous and diversified. When the issue of our 
elections had destined the reins of Government for Republican 
hands, it was seen and felt, by the genuine friends of the rising 
administration, that a dignified execution of the trust, would be 
em!)arrassed by expectations, which justice could not warrant ; 
by solicitations, which reason was unable to satisfy ; and by 
suggestions, which an enlightened policy could not fail to con- 
demn. The indications of this perturbed and prowling spirit, 
preceded the ftrst official act of the new Administration ; and 
measures to be adopted^ were delineated, by a bold and specious 
anticipation, that offered, in the form of a conjecture, what 
was meant to be prescribed as a task. While the great body ol 
the Republicans, aware that their position did not afford a view 
of the whole of the political ground, left the arrangements of 
State, and the work of reformation, implicitly, to their illustri- 
ous Chief and his Associates, the Malcontents pressed wiih in- 
creasing vehemence, on the Councils of the Nation. Some- 
times they endeavoured to attract attention, by florid represen- 
tations of their own personal worth, and civic popularity. At 
othur tiroes, they have sought to elevate themselves, by depre- 
ciating the character of every real, or bdpposed, competitor. On 
one occasion, you have seen them magnify the hasty opinion of 
a few inhabitants, of a few VV'ards of the City, into a deliberate 
expression of the will of the People. On another occasion, they 
have been detected iu divulging plots, which were never con- 
ceived ; anrlin brandingas conspirators against the fame and for- 
tunes of the Chief jMagistrate, men who would cheerfully ex- 
pose their lives, for the vindication of his principles, and the 
advah.eaient of his happiness. The whole machinery of confi- 
dential letters, essays upon the state of parties, anonymous 
hints, admonitions, and accusations, has been set in motion., 
Tiie pett\- incidents of private life, and the momentary asperities 
of private altercation ; mutilated scraps of conversation, and 
sudden ebullitions of passion ; have been obtruded, from the re- 
cesses of a malignant memory, upon the public ear; and, in- 
deed, it was once vainly thought, that favour might be atchiev- 
ed, by an attempt to sow the seeds of disunion, even within the 
hallowed ])recincts of the Capitol. 

But baffled in every scheme, and disappointed in every wish ; 
mortified with contempt, and exasperated by despair; the mal- 
contents resolved to coerce, whom they could not persuade ; 
and to ruin, what they could not enjoy. They quickly, there- 
fore, exchanged the arts of solicitation and deception, for the 
Weapons of denunciation and terror; transferring their princi- 
pal scene of action from Washington to Philadelphia ; where 
the Press, which had attained a matchless celebrity, under the 
guidance of its able and upright Founder, was devoted, by its 
present Proprietor, to all their passions and projects. A few 
leadiR^^ members of the General Assembly, honest, perhaps, 



[ 6 ] 

but fascinated by the mischievous and glowing speculations of 
Godwin, were, also, enlisted in their cause ; and undertook 
sometimes to act in the name of the Legislature, just as the 
malcontents themselves, have always presumed to act in the 
name of the People. The plausible pretext of a redress of grie- 
vances, and a reformation of abuses, naturally operated upon 
weak, though worthv, men, in a small degree to augment their 
numbers ; while the desperate and the dissolute (to whom any 
change is preferable to the continuance of order) listened, with 
delight, to the sound of the Revolutionary tocsin. 

Thus composed, and thus prepared, the Maicontents commenced the 
work of devastation upon our public cliaracters, and public institutions ; 
boastinp;, without shaviie, or compunction, that in tl>e prosecution of their 
designs, the tnerit of past services should l)e obliterated ; the hope of fu- 
ture usefulness should be blip-hted ; every feeling of friendship, every 
claim of gratitude, every tie of domestic affection, should be disregarded 
and subdued. Although they still wore a mask of respect towards the 
Chief Magistrate of the Union, the members of his Cabinet (the inmates 
of his heart, as well as the partners in his toil) have been, successively, 
libelled by their newspaper squibs, or stigmatized in their toasts at a Festi- 
val. They have sentenced a Republican majority in Congress, to the 
grossest imputations of corruption. In terms of unequivocal import, they 
have charged eleven Republican Senators of Pennsylvania, with perjury, 
while deciding in a judicial capacity. An opposition to the Candidate, 
whom they delight to honour, or to a measure, which they are pleased, 
without consultation, to propose, has never failed to open the sluices of 
scurrility and defamation, upon Veterans of the Revolution, and Repub- 
licans of the day of trial. In the lust of power, in the rage of proscription, 
the exercise of the equal right of opinion, at Political meetings, has either 
been over-awed by boisterous menaces ; or frustrated by clandestine com- 
binations. The essential rules of discipline, have been violated in the 
military Corps, to which they belong, while men, wearing the garb, and 
claiming the name, of Soldiers, have refused obedience, on a political 
pretext, to the orders of their Commander, leaving him no refuge from 
intolerable disgrace, but an indignant resignation of his commission. For 
maintaining the freedom of election (that vital principle of a Republican 
Government, guaranteed by tlie Constitution and Laws, against every 
species of influence and outrage) Republicans have been deprived of petty 
offices under the City Corporation. Nay, descending to the humblest 
sphere of persecution, a long list of tried and inflexible Republicans, have 
been expelled without a hearing, from a Popular Society, charged with 
the inexplicable crime of suspicion ; or attainted of a contumacious oppo- 
sition, to the election of the Member of Congress, presiding at their ex- 
pulsion. In short, who has not felt, or does not fear to feel, the goad 
and the lash of the present usurpation ? To the elevation of bad men, the 
prostration of good men, has always been found a necessary prelude. The 
Gironde of Brissot^ formed a base for ths mountain of Robespierre. The 
worst views of faction, too, are, generally, pursued under professions of the 
best. And the Citizens of America begin, at length, to perceive, that 
advantage has been taken of their just veneration for the Liberty of the 
Press, to shackle them with the tyranny of Printers. 

But it early occurred to the Malcontents, that this system of denuncia- 
tion, could not be supported by tlie mere weight of their own authority. 
Many Citizens, who were the objects of tlieir enmity, bore honourable 
marks of service in the war of Independence ; many had grown grey 



[ 5^ ] 

with tlie solicitudes of public council ; ntostoFUvem were attached to the 
soil, by the ties of pdrjiUage, of o^V-iJiini;, or of property ; and all of them 
had contributed to tl\e triumph of Reiiublicanism. A generous People 
may be vis^ilant, but they cannot be suspicious : before they decide, they 
will examine ; befiirc they inflict punishment, they must be convinced, 
that there exists guilt. It was natural, tlierefore, to expect an enquiry, 
why men, who had been firm and faithful, tliroughout the gloomy sea- 
son of privation and suffering, should abruptly abandon their principles 
and thcu' party, when all was sunshine, hilarity and enjoyment ? To 
escape from the difficulty of answering this question, the Malcontents 
dexterously raised the phantom of a Third Party ! It is obvious, howe- 
ver, that while the rapid progress of their denunciation, presents numbers 
sufficient to constitute an independent Political Corps, their ingenuity has 
been exerted, in vain, to assign an adequate motive for its formation ; 
nor has their zeal been more successful, in discovering any proof of ita 
existence. For, though the Public have been long amused by a succes- 
sion of promises, to unveil " treasons, stratagems, and spoils ;" what has 
been heard, in performance of those promises, except the ragings of am- 
bition, and the ribaldry of nick-names ? Thus, to oppose a Candidate, 
pertinaciously nominated by the leading Malcontents, has been deemed 
an inexpiable heresy^ although a Republican was his Competitor. A 
refusal to acquiesce in the decision of the Malcontents at a popular meet- 
ing, has been arraigned as ajiostacy, although the decision was surrepn 
titiously obtained. A verdict for the acquittal of Judges, whom the 
Malcontents had fore-doomed to conviction, has been stigmatized as 
political defection^ although it was delivered, in favour of innocence, unde<r 
the solemnity of an oath. In short, every Freeman, who was unwilling 
to yield, passive obedience to the mandates of a Secret Tribunal^ and to 
sacrifice substantial benefits, for airy novelty ; who would not applaud 
characters, that he did not approve, nor vindicate measures that he never 
advised ; who disdained to carry the prejudices of party into the circles of 
social life, or to declare all learning, learned men, and good manners, 
« hostile to the dignity of Republican virtue; tlie Malcontents have arbi- 
trarily enrolled as a Quid, or a Fede?-ali^t ; a Traitor, or a Tory ; involving 
them all, at last (under the auspices of General Steele and Mr Mit- 
chel) in a comprehensive proscription of " The Constitutional Re- 
publicans.*' But here, let it be explicit'v announced, that if to differ, at 
this period, in opinion and feeling, in theory and practice, from the 
Malcontents, can furnish the foundation of a Third Party, we shall ra- 
ther boast, than blush, at the imputation of belonging to it. For, as the 
Malcontents have widely wandered from the political ground, on which 
we once acted together, our last, great hope, (repeating the sentiment of 
1801) is "an Union of honest men, on the principles, which led Washing- 
<^ TON to the field, and placed Jkfferson in tht Cabinet." 

Having traced the Malcontents through the windings of sinister in^- 
(rigue, and personal detraction ; we proceed, with encreasing indignation, 
to review their daring and sacrilegious efforts, against the civil institu- 
tions of our country. On a vain presumption, that the establishment of 
their own influence, had been the necessary consequence of undermining 
the influence of others, it was thought easy to consummate the work of 
desti-uction, by employing the same arts to decry principles, which they 
had hitherto employed to disgrace men. Resorting, therefore, to all that 
could excite passion, or rivet prejudice ; to all that could stimulate fear, 
or attract credulity ; they have exposed the form and the substance of our 
Government, the code of our laws, the system of our jurisprudence, and 
t4]e ddngjnlstration of justice^ through a false and deceptive medium, to 



[ « j 

the scorn and detestation of the Avorld. Whatever was prepared for nsj 
by our vtneral)le Ancestors, is ridiculed as obsolete. Wlutever is the 
production of co-temporary wisdom, is branded with corruption. The 
Patriots of America are supposed to have been ii^norantof the true interests 
of their country ; and her Statesmen are reproached, with a treacheious 
contempt of tl.e rip;hts of man : While the impious and visionary standard 
of hmmni ^lerffclibilitii^ is proclaimed to be the only rational gnaide, in the 
formation of a free government ; and the Malcontents themselves to be the 
only qualified Rulers of a free people. 

Under the impulse of these dogma, and with a view to the introduc- 
tion of wild, pernicious, and unheard of, schemes of legislation and politics, 

The Malcontents have endeavoured to deprive us of the inestimable 
right of trial by Jury, in cases of trespass and damages, as well as in cases 
of debt and contract. 

They have endeavoured to deprive us of the security of independent 
Judges ; — of Judges independent of popularity and persecution, as Well as 
of power and patronage. 

They have endeavoured to deprive us of the sanctuary of Courts of Jus- 
tice, where publicity will always ensure impartiality ; substituting the 
private chamber of an individual Justice, where secrecy too often encou- 
rages oppression, and begets impunity. 

They have endeavoured to deprive us of the Freedom of Election, by a 
display of the terrors of denunciation and proscription ; threatening the 
good man with a loss of character, and the poor man with a loss of office. 

They have endeavoured to deprive us of the Liberty of the Press, by 
denying to Republicans the usual cliannels of public communication. 

They have endeavoured to deprive us of the honors of a well-organized 
militia, by flagrant examples of disobedience, contumacy, and disorder. 

They have endeavoured to deprive us of the benefits of the Common 
Law of Pennsylvania, as recognised, approved, and confirmed, by the 
Whigs of 1776. 

They are endeavouring to overthrow the State Constitution, involving 
in its ruins the order of Society, and the principle of Republicanism. 

And, finally, they are endeavouring, through the example and influence 
of Pcn7i!iylvania^ to subvert tlie Federal Constitution, at the hazard of civil 
war, and a dissolution of the Union. 

Such, Fellow-Citizens, is the crisis, at which your decision is required, 
upon the great questions. 

Whether a Convention shall be called ? 

And whether the present Governor shall be re-elected? 

The inalienable right of the People, to assemble for the alteration, or 
abolition, of their form of Government ; and the absolute authority of the 
Citizens, to select whom they phase, for their Chief Magistrate, have ne- 
ver been denied, and ought not to be resisted. But the possession of the 
right and tlic authority, bespeaks discretion and justice in using them ; 
and it would be disgraceful, as well as destructive, to yield that obedience 
to the cry of faction, which is due alone to the legitimate voice of the 
People. 

Here, then, let us ask, wiiat is the evidence of the public sentiment, — 
what is the test of the public interest, — on the important subjects before 
you ? As the late Session of the Gtneial Asscn^bly, was drawing to a close> 
the ultimate plot, to subvert the Constitution of the State, was deemed ma- 
ture for execution ; and measures were, accordingly, taken to obtain sig- 
natures to a Petition, for the call of a Convention. But this Petition (and 
\vc appeal to the inhabitants of every County for a corroboration of the 
£act) did not originate with the People, in thought, word, or deed ; nor 
has any individual been yet boldenough,to avow himself the presumptuous 



[ ^ ] 

author. Issuing-, however, from the S^xrrt 7'/7/>//?7rt/ of ihe Malcontents, 
it wus clandestiiK'ly and paitiidly circuited, in the remote districts ofCiini- 
berland, Washirif^ton, '''rawklin, Norlhiimbcrlaiid, and Ivliiilin ; while in 
the city, and the populous middle Counties, it was seen only by a few 
confidcntiul persons, until tl'.e publication of t!\e 28th of February last, in 
a Newspaper of Philadelphia, made a full disclosure of i'.s contents, to th* 
astonished and insulted Comnuniily. Tlie object beinj merely to catch 
the semblance of a popular wish for a Convention, and the snare, fur that 
purpose, being thus artfully set, the Malcoiitenls seemed, for a while, to be 
devoid of every api>rehension of a defeat, and openly made arranj^emcnts 
for the enjoymeiU of a victory. In the House of Representa- 
tives, a Grand Committee was appointed to receive the solicited Fctilions. 
Before a sint^le Petition was preseiUed, legislative business of great mo- 
ment (particularly a liill to alter the law, res|)ecting Contempts of Court) 
was laid aside, ynder the declaration of a leading cliaracter, that " the ap- 
proaciiing Convention, superseded the necessity of acting upon it." Tlie 
correspondence of the members, in favor of a Convention, invited support 
from their friends ; evidently contemplating an immediate cedl ; and for- 
getting, that their sacred trust was conferred, to preserve, net to destroy, 
the Constitution : While the correspondence of their opponents, anxiously 
claimed an expression of the sense of their ConslitueiUs, to avert the dan- 
ger of an immediate dissolution of the Covernment. Ti^e Press, likewise, 
prematurely considered the event as realized ; for, there, tlie time of as- 
sembling the Convention was actually referred to the month of August ; 
the place of meeting was designated at Hairisburg ; and .Merchants and 
Lawyers, men of education and men of wealth, were indiscriminately 
excluded from the honours of the silling. 

But these visions of distuilied and sickly innginations, were suddenly 
dispelled. Our Fellow-Cili^^ens, of every pijlilical description, feeling, at 
length, the necessity of a prompt interposition, liastened to rally round the 
Constitution, as the ark of tlieir common Sisfety : x\nd now the Malcon- 
tents beheld, with terror and dismay, the People, whose name thoy had 
craftily assumed, and whose indignation tiioy had justly excited, rising, 
in the native m.ajesty of their power, and their virtue, to vindicate the do- 
minion of the laws. In the course of a frw days, by a spontaneous sub- 
scription, the list of Remonstrants consideral)ly e^cceedcd the list of names, 
which had been collected, during a long, industrious, and secret, circula- 
tion of the Petition ; and when the Report of the Grand Committee was 
discussed, the co:n};arative numbers were 4944 Petitioners, and 5590 
Remonstrants, exliibiling to the actual view of the Legislature, a majority 
of 646 agairfst the call cf a Convention ; intiependent of thousands 
who could not transmit their Remonstrances totlic seat of Government 
before the termination of tlie Session. 

Though the Malcontents hud themselves appealed to the Community ; 
though they had loudly deprecated every species of resistance to the 
sense of a majority ; and thoijgh they did not dare, under sucli circum- 
stances, to summon a Convention upon their own responsibility, or under 
the authoritative name of the People ; yet, they could not p \tiently ac- 
quiesce in a result, so fatal to their personal and political speculations. 
The recent exprcision of the public sentiment, could not be revoked, or 
suppressed ; but they tliought it might be evaded. The Freemen of 
Pennsylvania were, it is true, enjoying liberty, competence, and content ; 
but, it was thought, they might yet be taught to believe, that they were 
oppressed, indigent, and wretched. The People of Pennsylvania die; not. 
wish to alter their Government, as a benefit to themselves ; but, it was 
thouuiht, that they might be induced to alter it, as a favor to their Friends 

B 



[ ^0 ] 

The gratitude, as well as liic policy of the Slate, forinul tin- degradation of 
her Chief MagistnUc ; hut, it was tliought, that the inconstancy and 
credulity of hu:rian nature, would furnish instruments to accomplish it. 
To these, and s!i>iilar, suggvslions, can alone be ascriljcd the extraor- 
dinary transactions, which succeeded the failure of the project, for an 
immediate call of u Convention. The same principle, tliat commands 
obedience to the sovereignty of the People, must always en- 
sure respect^ towards the depositaries oF their autliority ; but, 
we can no more regard a few members of the Legislature, as the 
Legislature itself, than we cam regard a few malcontents, as 
the bod\^ of the nation. We saw, therefore, with regret, but 
we repeat, without apprehension, that even some men, who 
wore the legislative honors of their country, appeared, at that 
time, to undertake the direction of the revolutionary engine. 
The House of Representatives, too, under their influence, as- 
sumed a tone of superiority ; and, eventually, monopolized the 
legislative character of the state. For, the memorials recom- 
mending, as well as opposing the call of a convention, were ad- 
dressed to both branches of the General Assembly (to the Sen- 
ate, as well as to the House of Representatives) but the House of 
Representatives, alone, received and considered, approved, 
or condemned ; denying to the Senate all information upon the 
subject, and all participation in the decision. In this paroxism 
of revolutionary zeal, the report of the grand committee was 
produced, bearing Indelible marks of the disappointment and 
chagrin of its authors. Contrary to the approved maxims of 
Republican Legislation, and in contempt of the exclusive right 
of the People, to originate every change in their government ; 
the report controverts and derides the sentiments of the majo- 
ritv ; applauds and enforces the sentiments of the minority ; 
propounds abstract principles, which no honest man will dis- 
pute ; draws practical conclusions, v/hich no wise man can ad- 
mit ; repudiates the constitution ior suppositious abuses, or 
imaginary defects ; and, finally, solicits the agency of a con- 
vention, to organize a political millennium, upon the ideal scale 
of human perfectibility ! 

But here, let us pause for awhile, to recapitulate the various 
pretexts, which have been used, as a cover for the real designs 
of the Malcontents ; and as an excuse, for the unauthorized in- 
terposition of a majority, of one of the Legislative Chambers. 

1. It has been said, in general terms of reprobation, that the 
constitution is defective ; but as it would be idle to expect a 
perfect \york, from the hands of imperfect man ; the remark 
carries with it neither censure, nor information. It may cer- 
tainly be applied to. every other form of government, past, 
or present; and v.c shall only indulge a pernicious vanity, if 
we suppose, that it will not be equally applicable to every fu- 
ture effort of human invention. 15ut the constitution of Penn- 
sylvania WU3 constructed on the model of the constitution of 
the United states, and has itself become a model for the con- 
stitulioiiis of several of our siste. states. Its basis and its su- 
peratruclure are, however, pre-eminently democratic ; for, 



t 11 ] 

while other constitutions exact the qualification of property from 
electors, as well as c:*.ndid;ites, and transfer the choice of a go- 
vernor, from the people to a department of the government: the 
constitution of Pennsylvania establishes the; right of universal 
suffrage, declares everv freeman eligible to every office, and re- 
serves for the people themselves, the appointment of their chief 
magistrate. It embraces, likewise, every principle of liberty, 
everv securitv for life, reputation, and property, every means of 
knowledge bv the freedom of the press, and every guard against 
the encroachments of delegated power upon popular rights, or 
co-ordinate departments, which the wisest statesmen could de- 
vise, and the most anxious patriots could desire. Still the con- 
stitution of Pennsylvania may be defective : but are the defects 
such as demand the corrective of a convention ? Have they 
generated calamity, oppression, or disorder ? Is there a coinci- 
dence of opinion on the points of defect, or the modes of repa- 
ration ? And do we not incur the risque of losing a constitution, 
positively good, for the mere ciiance of obtaining a constitution, 
hypothetically better ? 1'he formation of every social compact, 
depends upon mutual deference, and conciliatory sacrifices of 
individual opinion. No System of government was ever ap- 
proved, in all its parts, by those v/ho framed, or by those \*^ho 
adopted it. And we venture to affirm, that ro new svstem of 
government, no scheme cf modiUcaticn, or amendment, will 
ever unite so great a portion of public sentiment and attach- 
ment in its favor, as are united in favor of the constitution, 
under which the people of Pennsylvania nov«^ live and flourish. 

2. It has been said, ir. the indefinite e-:pressiona of jealousy 
and alarm, that the delegited pov/crs of the constitution, may 
be perverted and abused ; but this, al30,4s a. remark so general, 
(embracing equally the legislative, the executive, and the judi- 
cial, power) that it strikes r;t the vcr}' existence of civil go* 
vernmenc. In truth, the use of pov/er is essential to the order 
and peace of societ}' ; and the hazard of its being abused, must, 
therefore, be encourttered. But every well regulated svstem, 
while it confers power, exacts responoihiiity ; and no govern- 
ment can, consistently with the other importaut objects and 
operations of its institution, be more ei-icient in this respect, 
than the government of Pennsylvania. Ttius, the ruembers of 
the House of Representatives mjst annually acccrunt to their 
constituents. The Senate annually sends one fourth of itj 
members, in regular rotation, to the rrdeal of an election. 
The Executive IMagistrate undergoes a triennial investigation 
of his conduct, at the bar of the people ; nor can he enjoy the 
favors of popularity, beyond a limited period. The J udges are 
constantly subject to the censorial power of impeachment, and 
to Legislative Addresses for their removal : vrhile the subor- 
dinate officers of the state are amenable to the Governorand (in 
common with himself and the Judges) may be impeached and 
dismissed, for misconduct in office. If with such precautions, 
there is not safety in the delegation of power, to what substi^ 
tutes cat* Vie more coufideutly resort ? Ltt it not tie answered, 



[ 12 ] 

to the direct and constant agency of the people ; for, that is im« 
practicable. Let it not be answered, to the exclusive authority 
of the Legislative Agents of the People ; for, we know that Le- 
gislative agents, mav feel power and forget right, as well as Ex- 
ecutive and Judicial IMagistrates. But, rather, let us bow with 
reverence to the decrees of Providence, thus mingling with all 
its bounties to mankind, a portion of bitterness and alloy. 

3. It has been said, in terms of indignation and disgust, that 
the Constitution tolerates the Common Law ; and is, therefore, 
inconsistent with true liberty, and genuine republicanism. On 
no occasion has the declamation of the Malcontents betrayed 
more ignorance, or more v/ickedness, than in the attempt to des- 
pod this venerable Code of the affections and confidence of the 
People. Jn depicting the Common Law, they have ransacked 
the cells of Monks ; they have pillaged the lumber of Colleges : 
they have revived the follies of a superstitious age; and they 
have brandished the rigours of a military despotism : but, in all 
this rage of research, they have forgotten, or concealed, that 
such things enter not into the composition of the Common Law 
of Pennsylvania : For, the Constitution tolerates only that por- 
tion of the Common Law, which your Ancestors voluntarily 
brought witli them to the wiidernsss, as a birth-right ; and 
which the Patriots of the Revolution bestowed upon us, as a 
Charter of privilege and benevolence. Let us not, therefore, 
be ensnared by prejudices, nor be deceived by the mere simili- 
tude of names. Every nation has its Common Law. The 
Common Law of every nation, is the accumulated vv^is- 
dom of its best men, through a succession of ages, settled into 
known rules, maxims, and precedents. The Common Law of 
England, stripped of its feudal trappings, is the admiration of 
the world. Tlie Common Lav of Fennsvlvania, is the Com- 
mon Law of England, as stripped of its feudal trappings ; as- 
originally suited to a colonial condition ; as modified by Acts 
of the General Assembly ; and as purified by the principles of 
the Constitution. For the varying exigencies of scjcial life, 
for the complicated interests of an enterprizing nation, the po- 
sitive acts of the Legislature can provide little ; and, indepen- 
dent of the Common Law, rig'nts would remain forever without 
remedies, and wrongs without redress. The law of nations, 
the law of merchants, the (^.stonisi and usages of trade, and 
even the law of every foreign couiitrv, in relation to transitory 
contracts, originating there, .but prosecuted here, are parts of the 
Common Law of Pennsylvani?. It is the Common Law, ge- 
nerally speaking, not an Act of Assembly, that assures the title,, 
and the possession, ot your Farrns and your Houses ; that pro- 
tects your persons, your li!)criy, your reputation, from vio- 
lence ; that defines and punishes olFences ; that regulates the 
trialbyjuryjand (in a wordcomprehendingall its attributes) that 
gives efficacy to the fundamental principles of the Constitution. 
If such are the nature and the uses of the Common Law, is it 
politic, or would it be practicable, to abandon it ? Simply, be- 
CiiUiie it originated ia Europe, cannot afford a better reasoa to 



abandon it, than to renounce the English and the German lan- 
guages ; or to abolish the institutions of property and mar- 
riage, of education and religion ; since they, too, were derived 
from the more ancient civilized nations of the world. Messrs. 
yejferson^ Wijthe^ and Pendleton declared, in reference to a re- 
vision of the code of Virginia (for, all our sister states have 
adopted the Common Law of England, dift'ering only in the de- 
gree and the manner of the adoption) that " the Common Laxu 
*' of England, by which is meant that part of the English Law, 
*' which was anterior to the date of the oldest statutes extant, is 
" vci^xdii the basis of the work. Itxuas thought dangerous to attempt 
" to reduce it to a text; it was therefore left to be collected from 
" the usual monuments of it." (Notes on Virginia^p, 266. J How 
chimerical, then, must be the project of calling a Convention, 
to reduce the Common Law, not to a statutory detail, but to a 
Constitutional text ! How superfluous the trouble, and the ex- 
pence, since the Legislature itself, already possesses a compe- 
tent authority to reform every abuse, to remedy every defect, 
and to controul every operation, of the Common Law ! 

4. It has been said, that the judges, " under colour of the 
" Common Law, have exercised the most daring tyranny, and 
" violated the Constitution and laws of the State ;" and hence 
the necessity of a Convention has, also, been inferred. This 
assertion appears under the signature of Mr. Steele, the PrC' 
sident of the Seriate. It involves eleven of his fellow Senators 
(Republicans of inflexible political and personal integrity) in the 
imputation of perjury, for voting in favour of the impeached 
Judges ; and it chai-ges those Judges with a crime, for which 
they had been fairly tried ; and of which they had been law- 
fully acquitted. But we will not enter into a discussion of the 
question, to which the charge refers, whether the judges of the 
Supreme Court, have a Constitutional power, to punish Con- 
tempts of Courts by the summary process of attachment? Nor 
will we even state the essential distinction, between a wilful vio- 
lation of the Constitution, which could alone be criminal, and 
an honest error in judgment, which cannot be imputalole, or pu- 
nished, upon impeachment, as a crime. These might be pro- 
per grounds of enquiry in estimating the truths as well as the 
decency, of Mr. Steele^s publication ; but in the abstract enqui- 
ry, whether the conduct of the judges, furnishes an adequate 
cause, for calling a Convention, it is sufficient to observe, that 
if Contempts of Court, ought no longer to be punished by at- 
tachment, the Legislature may, by their own authority, modify, 
or abolish, the process, without any additional sanction, from a 
constituent Assembly : And, we presume, that the Malcontents 
will not avow the design to render a bare majority of the Se- 
nate, competent to a conviction on impeachment; lest it should 
be seen, that the unanimity of a Jury, in other criminal prosecu- 
tions, is, also, obnoxious to their views, and equally the object 
of revolutionary reform. 

5. It has been said, that the Constitutional power of appoint-^ 
ment to o^^ce, bestows on the executive the meaas of acquirinc 



[ 14 ] 

a dangerous influence ; and that the Constitutional negative of 
the Governor, upon legislative propositions, has been employ- 
ed to retard the progress of political improvement. But the 
power of appointment to oPnce, can onlv produce a dangerous 
influence, where those who enjoy it, may be served by gratitude, 
yet cannot be injured by resentment. In a free, Republican^ 
Government, the power of appointment to office, can never be 
made a dangerous instrument of personal ambition ; since those 
^ho exercise it, are as dependent upon the Candidates whom 
they reject, as upon the Candidates, whom thev accept ; and 
the number and activitv of the former, will forever exceed the 
number and activity of tlie latter. The transactions of the day, 
evince the truth of this political position. The clamour of dis- 
content is loud and virulent, against the present distribution of 
offices ; and an exercise of the power of appointment, in oppo- 
sition to particular interests, has, obviously, furnished a signa- 
ture for invective, and a certificate for imposture. But when 
it is said, that the Executive ought to be deprived of this pow- 
er, we should, likewise, be told, where it can more safely, more 
usefully, be deposited. The secret has not yet been divulged j 
but, Fellow-Citizens, beware! There is not an honest politician, 
who, hearing the cabals of elections for Federal Senators, for 
State Treasurer, for Bank Directors, will readily consent to en- 
danger the purity of the Legislative character, by enlarging the 
sphere of its patronage, in the appointment to office. 

Nor can the qualiiied negative upon legislative proceedings, 
however beneficial to the public, advance the popularity, or in- 
fluence, of the Chief Magistrate. It is a power wisely created, 
as an additional security, for the preservation of the Constitu- 
tion, from the encroachments of a Popular Assembly, whose 
numbers serve, at once, to abate caution, and to diminish res- 
ponsibility ; for the protection of the co-ordinate departments 
of government, from the absorbing tendencies of legislative au- 
thority; and for the prevention of sudden and dangerous inno- 
vations, upon the laws and habits of the Community. For all 
these purposes, you have seen a firm and honourable interposi- 
tion of the power, during the present administration ; but you 
have, also, seen, that (raising a host, in opposition to an indi- 
vidual) no respect for the power, as vested by the Constitution ; 
no deference for the claims of conscience, as involved in exer- 
cising it ; no consideration of personal wisdom and worth, as 
due to the ?viagistrate himself; nor any sense of decorum, as 
inspired by his constituents ; could deter the Malcontents from 
resorting to this ground, as the strong hold of their operations, 
against the official reputation of the Governor. Let it be ask- 
ed, however, in what instance the power has been found injuri- 
ous, or inconvenient, to the rights and interests of the People ? 
It has, indeed, sometimes suspended an important decision, 
'till the sense of the People could be ascertained. It has some- 
times embarrassed an attack upon the principles of the Consti- 
tution. It has often produced useful deliberation. And once, 
at least, it has prevented the disg.race of legislating upon sub^ 



[ 15 ] 

jects, that belong exclusively to the jurisdiction of another 
countrv. But arc these cflfects, of a Constitutional power, that 
we should approve and encourage ; or, on the contrary, that we 
should demand a Convention to condemn and to prohibit ? I^et 
the honest and the intelligent l^Vceinen of Pennsylvania, reflect 
and determine. 

These, then, Fellow-Citizens, are the pretexts for raising 
an artificial tempest, in a season of calm and fruitful prospe- 
ritv. With these pretexts, men deranged by Utopian theories 
or corrupted by foreign arts ; men, formed turbulent by nature, 
or become so from necessity' ; men, who delight in confusion, 
and subsist upon defamation ; idlers, without social attach- 
ments ; and politicians by trade ; gathering their scanty num- 
bers into a malignant circle, have scattered envy and malice, 
fear and suspicion, throughout the land. It was not to be ex- 
pected, that, indulging a more than Gothic fury, for the de- 
molition of our public institutions, the Malcontents would per- 
mit the venerable JM'Kean (who had long laboured for their 
establishment and preservation), to close his patriotic life in 
peace. His services and his renown are, indeed, coeval with 
the dawn of American independence ; for, he is among the few 
(the lamentably few) surviving members of the illustrious 
Congress of 1765 ; and in every vicissitude of the war of 1776, 
he was the firm and efficient servant of his country. But nei- 
ther these testimonials ; nor all the assiduity since displayed by 
an enlightened mind, for the public good ; nor the courtesy which 
age might attract ; nor the gratitude which bounty should com- 
mand ; have furnished a shield to protect him from obloquy the 
most unjust; or from insult the most cruel! A new order of 
things, required a new character of men. Those who had 
contributed to rear the fabric of civil government, could never 
sincerely be beloved, by those who seek to undermine and des- 
troy it. The hrst election of Governor M'Kean was espoused 
with a zeal that graced the noblest motives ; and the second 
election was distinguished by an unprecedented majority of the 
suffrages of a free people. In these movements, however, the 
Malcontents (as far as their co-operation extended) contem- 
plated their own interests, and not the interests of the commu- 
nity. The well-known name of the Patriot, gave assurance of 
success on the day of election ; and, it was imagined, the un- 
suspecting nature of the man, would render him an easy vic- 
tim to the arts of solicitation and intrigue. For awhile, too, the 
Malcontents seemed to reap the fruits of their speculation. 
Much was obtained for personal gratification ; but more to 
indulge the vanit)' of a reflected patronage. To prove the first 
part of our assertion, we refer to the evidence of Commis- 
sions and Contracts, of Petitions and Testimonials, on the 
public files of the Secretary's oflice ; and, as to the sec»nd part, 
the lapse of time is too short, to have impaired the recollection, 
of the pains, which were taken, to create a popular opinion, that 
the recommendation of the leading Malcontents, was a certain, 
but an indispensable, passport, to Executive favor. During 



[ 16 ] 

that period, every act that the Governor performed, every sen- 
timent that he uttered, furnished a theme for adulation and ap- 
plause. But the pressure of incessant importunity, the insa- 
tiable thirst for place and patronage, could not be forever tole- 
rated or supplied. The leading Malcontents were often here, 
as at Jfashifigton, solicitors for the same office ; or advocates 
for different Candidates : All could not succeed, and all, by 
alternate disappointment, became discontented and hostile. 
Under these impressions, the designs against the fundamental 
institutions of our country were conceived ; and, at length, the 
Governor had no other alternative, but openlv to renounce the 
favor of the Malcontents ; or tacitly to permit the Constitution 
to be violated and supplanted, by successive acts of unauthori- 
sed legislation. The decision, prompt and unequivocal, was 
worth)'- of the Chief Magistrate of Pennsylvania: but, from 
that moment, his downfall was deemed, by the Malcontents, 
to be a necessary concomitant of the downfall of our Govern- 
ment. The proper instruments, for so ungracious an under- 
taking, were speedily put into operation. Because Bills have 
sometimes been presented for his approbation, which he could 
not, in his conscience, approve ; they have endeavoured to pro- 
voke an unwarrantable rupture, between the Legislative and 
Executive Departments. Because the execution of the laws 
has been sometim.es difficult, and the administration of justice 
has long been obstructed ; they have endeavoured to involve 
him in the odium of such defects, concealing, that the Legis- 
lature alone can supply an adequate remedy. Those, who 
before extolled him, are now industrious to debase him ; and, 
without enjoying the merit of invention, or feeling the shame of 
inconsistency, they assail him with a repetition of the very slan- 
ders, which, on a former occasion, they had themselves refuted 
and condemned. He has been surrounded with spies and in- 
formers, v/ho, crossinghim in his walks of exercise, or obtruding 
upon his hours of domestic retirement, distort all his actions, 
and falsify all his words. In this progressive course, the Mal- 
contents, finally, reached the ground of action ; and the Bo- 
rough of Lancaster witnessed, in the same week, the invoca- 
tion for a Convention, to abolish our Constitution, and the 
cabal of a Ballot, to degrade our Governor ! 

It must be remembered, that before the re-election of go- 
vernor M'Kean, in 1802, the malcontents had anxiously cal- 
culated the chances, in favour of another candidate : but, how- 
ever sanguine and bold they are in their political temperament, 
nothing, at that time, had occurred, which could afford the 
•slightest encouragement for the attempt. Nor can it be precisely 
«tated, when their confidence had so encreased, as to produce a 
determination, to make an experiment, at the ensuing election ; 
since, in the very petition, for calling a convention, they ac- 
company their general objections to the Executive power, with 
these remarkable declarations : " We wish not to be under- 
*' stood, as insinuating, in the most remote degree, that this poiv- 
" er has been abused by the present Executive Magistrate, ^c. 



[ I5r ] 

" All we mean, is, that this dangerous power does exist, and 
" maj' be exercised, rvhenever a less riprtght and virtuous Gc- 
" vernor is in office^ ^cJ'"' It was manifest, howf>ver, as soon as 
the malcontents were defeated, in the scheme for an immediate 
call of a convention, that their leaders, in a conclave at Lan- 
caster, had resolved upon the opposition to Governor M'Kf.an. 
After the resolution was taken, the members of the Legislature, 
who were, also, members of the cabal, appeared, more than 
usually, solicitous, to procure Justices Commissions, for their 
friends and partizans ; and it may be, fairly, presumed, that 
the visit of Messrs. M'Kinney, Montgomery, Steele, &c. of 
the 2 1st of March (to which the public are indebted for the ex- 
ploded Tale of the Clod-hoppers) was connected with the 
secret plot, to supercede the Executive Magistrate. But 
the first open display of hostility is to be found in the ex- 
traordinary spectacle, which almost instantaneously followed 
the adjournment of the General Assembly. The Legislature 
had acquired a habit of electing some of its own body, to the of- 
fices of Federal Senator, State Treasurer, and Bank Director ; 
and now the members, who had conspired with the nnJcon- 
tents, on the present occasion ( being repulsed in their repeated 
applications, for permission to use the respectable name of 
Muhlenberg, or oi Heister^ boldly determined, likewise, to make 
one of themselves a Governor: — an example more dangerous to 
the rights of the People, more destructive to the purity and n- 
dependence of the Legislature, than all the imputed imperl< c- 
tions of the Constitution ! A meeting of the Republican meni- 
bers, generally, was, accordingly called. Several of the friends 
of Governor M'Kean, had previously left Lancaster, but many 
of them attended the meeting. A request was urged, on their 
part, for information of the cause and design of the meeting; 
but none was communicated. It was suggested, that an open 
nomination of candidates should be made ; but the suggestion 
was disregarded. It was proposed, that the vote should be ta- 
ken viva-voce, and not by ballot; but the proposition was over- 
ruled. The truth is, that the members, who Avere parties to 
the conspiracy, went to the meeting with their tickets prepar- 
ed ; and although they intended to give to the proceeding, the 
influence of their legislative character, thevMvere so ashamed of 
the act, or so fearful of its consequences, that they could not be 
induced to add to it, the pledge of their legislative rcsponsibilit}'. 
The body of Governor J/' A't'a/z'* friends, retired, in disgust, 
from this mockery and usurpation ; this premeditated outrage 
upon legislative decorum, and the freedom of election. 
Though reason, as well as constitutional authority, requires, 
that every vote given in a representative capacity, should be 
openly given ; and though the vote on this occasion is descri- 
bed, as the vote of 42 representatives of the people, the mem- 
bers who remained, delivered a prepared and secret ballot, for 
a new candidate to fill the Executive chair ; leaving their Cdn- 

C 



[ 18 ] 

stituents little more than a conjecture, to designate by whom 
the injury and the Insult have been inflicted. 

HaN'iig fuinlshed this insidious insu unit. lit, tor promoting the de- 
signs of the INIalconlciUs, the Mtiubers dispersed ; 'out the sanction 
of the legislative character was still necessary, to compleat the spell 
for ruin and detraction. A Libel v/as prtparcd, under the specious 
title of " An Address of tl.e Mcnvbers of the General Assembly," 
and circulcitc'd in the form of a PamphKt, subscribed only by John 
Steele, and Jacol) Mitchell. It was accompanied too with Certifi- 
cates, of a conversation, noted the very day that it occurred with a 
view to th.e present use ; but both of the Certificates are inaccurate, 
and one of them is of doulitful authenticity, as it pui'ports to be written 
and signed, by a member of the House of Representatives, though it 
couiaiiis a material variance from aiiother representation of that mem- 
ber (asserting lure, lliat the governor said, lie would consult "• /lis 
oivntconveniefice" while it is asserted elsewhere, that the Governor said, 
" he would consult /lis oivn CGuscicncc'') and as the Certificate itself pre- 
sents no character of similitude, with the signature, or style, of a ge- 
nuine letter, from the same member, now in the po3ses:,ion of the pub- 
lic. On the 20ih of May, 1805, tliis Libel was ushered into public 
notice by a Philadelphia Newspaper, with a preface, declaring, '' that 
it had b?en repotted, and " unanimounly z^v^ttA to, on Tiiursday. evening," 
the 4th of April last ; and plainly intending to cotivey the idea, that 
it had been so laianimoiitily agreed to, at a second meeting of the per- 
sons, assembled the preceding day :, when General John Steele was 
appointed Chairman, and Fresliy Can- Lane (who, as a Senator, 
voting for the acquittal of the impeached Judges, is, himself, an 
object of the very slander which, it is alledged, he approved) atid Jacob 
Mitchell wtit appointed Teliirs. But M'e beseech you, Fellow-Citizens, 
to peruse this extraordiiiary composition with attention, in order to be 
convinced, from the proCligncy of its principles, and tlie scurrility of 
its language (as well as from the notoriety of other opposing facts) that 
it ought not to be deemed the work of any association of your Repre- 
sentatives. In the face of the recent declaration of the Malcontent Pe- 
tition, that there was no fault to be found with the official conduct of tlie 
Goveraor, the jaundiced author has represented his whole administration, 
as a tissue of tyranny, favoritism, and error. In contempt of a majority 
of 30,000 free suffrages, which gave the stainp of merit and approba- 
tion to nis first period ; nay, in immediate contradiction to the concession 
of the Address itself, " that the administration of that period promised, 
upon the whole, to be beneficial to the State ;" the Governor's transac- 
tions, from the first to the last day, are brought into a faithless and ma- 
lignant review, to decorate tiie Black-hook of the Malcontents. Not only 
important facts have been suppressed, but the reasons assigned for his 
conduct, on particular occasions, have been garbled, p-erverted, and mis- 
construed. Not only his public agency, but his private honour, has been 
impeached. Not only his (]istril)ution of public offices, but his intercourse 
in social life, has been invidiously scrutinized. Tlie temper of his mind, 
and the habit of his manners (long fixed, and known, and respected, by 
his Fellow Citizens) have been made loj/ics of public discussion and re- 
proach. Nay, epithets have been formed, and words have been selected, 
for the inhuman purpose of torturing his sensibility, as a Parent and a 
Friend ; 'till, in fine, the Address of the Malcontents has doomed the 
Veteran Patriot to lament (and others are yet doomed to feel) that al- 
though the carcase of Calhnder is no more, his spirit, ungrateful and vin- 
dictive, still survives ! 

We ennphalically repeat, Fellow Citizens, that such a composition 



[ 19 ] 

owp;ht not, without an express and individual avowal, to be ascribed to any 
set of men, who arc lionoured witli tlie confidence of the People. We 
l)Lr!eve, that the Addivss never was seen, or read, before it was pub- 
lis!)ed, by twenty members of 'ht; Legislature ; we belie\e, lliat there 
never were ten me'ii'iers assembled at any meeting, which apnrovcd and 
adopted it ; and, we are confident, iliat tliere is not one inen)l..er, who is 
prepared to substantiate t'.ie criminui cl)arges, wliich it contains. Wc 
speak not here of charges, wliicli im])ute to llie Governor, as a ciime, the 
conscientious exercise of a Constitutional power. We speak not of cliar- 
ires, which, on tue presumption, as it would seem, that tlie Legislature 
has already ai>sorbed all the powers of (ioveriUTient, treat as a menace 
against Lep;islative authority, the simple declaration, that the Judgment 
of the Supreme Court, upon a point of law, would be an authoritative 
decision. We speak not of charges, which convert a deference for le- 
gislative opinion, into a contempt of legislative dignity, where the Gover- 
nor has tacitly acquiesced in the enactment of a law, though he could no- 
positively affix the signature of approbation We spc: k not here oft 
charges, which arraign t!.e Executive for not reluming Bills wit;i his ap- 
probation, or dissent, where the Bills were only presented for hi^ conside- 
ration, on the eve of an adjournment of the Legislature. W'e speak not 
ofchavges, which decry a wisli to transmit tiie Constitution imimpai.Ld to 
his successor, as a symptom of aristocracy and despotism. We speak not 
of charges, which clamourously condemn the distribution of offices, ma- 
nifestly because the authors of the charge weie not the persons appointed. 
We speak not of charges, which (forgetting that to be a Governor, is 
not to lose the affections of a man, nor to be the relation of a Governor, a 
forfeiture of the equal rights of a Citizen) stigmatize, as extravagant, the 
grant of three Commissions, to connexions, by blood and marriage, 
out oE the unbounded patronage, which the Executive, for^another purpose, 
is idly s m\ to possess. We speak not of charges, in wl.ich Messrs. 
jM^Krnneij and Montgomery^ appear as arbiters of elegar.t manners, and 
polite coi versation. But we speiik of gvoas charges of oficial delinquency 
and corru/ition^ for which, we trust, the libellous authors will be compel- 
led, at a proper time, and in a proper place, to answer to the oflended 
laws and justice of their country. 

1. It is alledged, tliat an election ticket*' was distributed from the Gover- 
" nor's coach, by two officers of Executive appointment, who accompa- 
" nied him, and daily held him up as the nitron of faction. The attempt 
" was frustrated by the force of popular sufiVage, and he was driven to dis- 
<' avow, only after a defeat, what he had really taken pains to promote 
" without success." The charge is denied. We demand the informer, 
and the proof. 

2. It is alledged, that the autlior and abettors of the Address have 
seen tlie Governor " empioying the whole weight of his opinion, and 
" the induence of the officers of his appointment, tjesiJes an interference 
" with private Citizens, to procure the extrication of three Judfr.'-s of the 
" Supreme Court from an impeachment, wiio hac', under colour of the 
" common law, exercised the most daring tyranny, and violated the 
" Constitution, and laws of the State." 1 he charge is denied. We 
demand the informer, and the proof. 

3. It is is alledged, that the Governor asserted, that " he would not 
" suHer a Convention to take place :'' And, it is insinuated, that he 
meant " to employ arms, or corruption, to prevent it." The charge is 
deuied. Let it be said, that the honourable and enliglUened informers, 
Messrs. Montgomery and M'JCimiryy seem to prove, t'lat he reprobated (as 
most honest men do) the call of a Convention ; and tliat lie said (as every 
citizen has a right to jay) he would firmly resist it ; but still we demand 



[ 20 ] 

the proof, that, as an Exccuiivc ^.lagistrale, i',e thrtatcncd the use of 
armis, or corruption. 

4. It is ailtflged, tluit " an Aclcli-cs<r, for the removal of Judge Brack- 
« niridgc from office, was presented hu more than two-thirds of each 
»« branch of the Lcgklafwe ; and that the Executive has not even deign- 
" ed to mr.ke any coniinunicalion in reply." The charge is unfounded ; 
f -r, we answer, 

(1) That the extraordinary nature of liie case, merited a very serious 
consideration. Jud;^e yirarA-t'nnV/^'finrorn-.ed the House of Representatives, 
that he had concurred, in tlie punislinient of the oH'ender (who had com- 
plained to the House) for a contcnijit of Court ; and observed, that it might 
be thought an edect of the bias of parly by others, (not that he thought 
sd himself) if iiis name was not conipruliended, with the names of other 
Judges in the meditated irapeaehmcnt. The House of Representatives 
considered the letter of Judge Brackciiridi;-e, on this subject,as a Contempt. 
They admittted his own acknowledgment, as sufficient proof to involve 
him in the only punishment, v.hich could follow a Conviction, on im- 
peachment ; — the removal from office ; but they would not admit it to be 
sufficient, to give him t!ie opportunity of explanation, or defence, which 
upon impeachment they could not refuse. At the very'time, therefore, 
that the House of Representatives were instituting a prosecution against 
the Judges of the Supreme Court, for punishing a private individual's 
contempt of Court, by attachment, after a full defence, with a small 
fine, and a short imprisonment, the Senate and the House of Represen- 
tatives concurred, in the design to punish Judge Brackenridge., without 
a notice, or a hearing, or a trial by Jury, or a trial by impeachment, for a 
contempt of th-e Legislature ; degrading him from office ; stripping an 
aged man and his family of their subsistence ; and fining him to the 
aniovint of 2,000 dollars per annum, during his life ! Let Mr. Steele^ or 
Mr, ilZ/Vf/kV/, or all, or any of the authors of the Address, who have cal- 
led the conduct of the Supreme Court, " the most daring tyranny, and 
" violation of t!ie Constitution and Laws of the State," find out a prece- 
dent, or a name, for such an act as this ! But let us not be surprized, 
Fellow-Ci'izens, that Governor M'Keak, who had long administered jus- 
tice, upon the maxim, " that no man should be condemned unheard," 
deliberated, before he would acqiiiesce in an Address, under such cir- 
cumstances, for the removal of a Judicial officer. 

(2) That the Governor possesses a Constitutional discretion, 
whether he will comply with an address, for the removal of a 
Judge ; and is no more responsible to the Legislature, for 
the exercise of that discretion, than the Legislature is respon- 
sible to him, for the motives of the application. 

(3) That the application for the removal of Judge Brack- 
enridge, was not constitutionally made, and, therefore, could 
not be lawfully granted. It is true, that the address asserts 
the application to have been made, by two thirds of each 
branch of the Legishiture ; and, it is, also, true that the Con- 
stitution requires the application to be so made ; but, in point of 
real fact, two thirds of each branch of the Legislature^ did not 
make the application. Two thirds of a Honse^ and two-thirds 
of a Branchy of the Legislature, are distinct things, in the lan- 
guage of the Constitution, and in the meaning of the Con- 
vention, as conveyed by their own Journals. The branch 
is composed of all its members ; but a majority of the 
members of a branch constitutes a House^ for the ordinary 



[ 21 ] 

business of legislation. For special purposes, however, (an 
impeachment, or an address, for removal from office) the 
branchy and not the house, is appealed to ; and for this plain 
reason, that the rule of decision should be uniform. For 
instance, two thirds of the Senate, considered as a branch of 
the Legislature, will, invariably amount to sixteen ; but two 
thirds of the Senate considered as a Bouse may vibrate from 
nine, which is two thirds of the quorum of thirteen, to six- 
teen, which is two thirds of the whole branch of 24 n^embers. 
In the case of Judge Br^rLtrnridge, the votes for his removal 
amounted to tuo thirds of each House, but did not amount 
to two thirds of each Branch of the Legislature. The Go- 
vernor could not, therefore, violate the Constitution, to gratify 
the wishes, or to resent the injuries, which occasioned the 
address. 

But, Fellow Citizens, it is a more laudable, a more just, 
and a more salutary task, to turn your attention from this 
loathsome and ungrateful scene of defamation, to a contem- 
plation of the important services of the Executive Magistrate. 
It was not manly, or decent, to break open the tomb of de- 
parted worth, and to repudiate the memory of a Patriot, to 
whose honor, the Legislature itself had decreed a public 
funeral and monument. But, if it is true, that the Governor 
succeeded to a chair, shattered, tottering, and feeble, from the 
indiscretion of his Predecessor, to whom are we to ascribe its 
present efficient and impressive character? There is no state, 
that boasts a more prompt, faithful, and beneficial, execution 
of its laws ; while as a member of the union, Pennsylvania, 
has maintained, through the medium of its Executive, with 
examplary dignity, the principles of federate harmony and 
confidence. The militia has been an object of our Gover- 
nor's most assiduous, and successful attention. The discipline, 
the supplies of artillery, of arms, and of other military equip- 
ments, which render our militia pre-eminently respectable, 
and efficient, may be ascribed to his indefatigable zeal, for the 
preservation of an institution, on which, he well knows, the 
people can alone safely rely, for their peace, liberty, and inde- 
pendence. By his care, the Wyomen controversy, which has 
so long annoyed the peace of Pennsylvania, will, probably, be 
soon terminated, to the satisfaction of all the parties, and to 
the honor of the state. The actual settlers, on the Western 
frontier, owe much to his sympathy and protection, during the 
litigation of their claims. Agriculture has received his aid, 
in exertions to extend our roads, and improve our navigable 
communication. Commerce has been advanced, by his assi- 
duity, in employing the best means to preserve the health of 
our capitol. Of mechanics and manufacturers, he has been 
the unaffected friend and patron; and, feeling himself all the 
blessings of knowledge, he incessantly labours to disseminate 
the means of education. But why should we advance in this 
pleasing, though superfluous, delineation of his merit? After 
liity years of public life, you must understand the value of 



[ 22 ] 

such a man ; and you will not easily submit to be deprived of 
his services, to see his virtues unjustly obscured, or his ho- 
nors ungratefully despoiled. 

We have now, Fellow-Citizens, traced the origin of the 
present crisis. We have developed the motives, plans, and 
operations, of the Malcontents. The trespass upon your time, 
has been great ; but the importance of the occasion must be our 
excuse. It is an effort to preserve institutions, and inen, we 
know and approve ; against projects which we cannot compre- 
hend, proposed by men, whom we cannot trust : whose object 
cannot be good, since the means that they employ are evi- 
dently bad. It is a cause of Principle, independent of Party. 
Every man has an interest in the issue, and every man is 
bound to bear a part in the contest. For ourselves, we think, 
that it is time, to evince to the world, that a Democratic Re- 
public, can enjoy energy without tyranny, and Liberty with- 
out anarchy. It is time to brush from the skirts of the Repub- 
lican party, the moth that stain the purity of its colour, and 
feed upon the consistency of its texture. It is time to con- 
vince the Malcontents, that their machinations are detected, 
that their influence is lost, and that their denunciations are 
despised. For these purposes, the Society of Constitutional 
Republicans was formed ; and when these purposes shall be 
accomplished, the Society will chearfuUy cease to exist. 

The epoch of their accomplishment, we confidently refer 
to the next General Election. Eet us, then, Fellow-Citizens, 
implore your co-operation. Prepare with vigilance, and act 
with firmness. Re-elect our venerable Governor. Exclude 
from the Legislature, all who have avowed a disposition hos- 
tile to the Constitution. Circulate, and transmit to the Secre- 
tary's Office, Remonstrances in opposition to a Convention. 
Communicate your information on the crisis of our public 
affairs, in repeated meetings, and in every private conver- 
sation. Rescue your country from the impending evil, and 
deserve to be happy. 

GEORGE LOGAN, President. 

ISRAEL ISRAEL, Vice-President. 

SAMUEL WETHERILL, Jun. Secretary. 

A. J. DALLAS, -^ o 

J.B.SMITH, 

ISAAC WORRELL, 

SAMUEL WETHERILL, 

BLAIR M'CLENACHAN, 

Philadelphia, June 10, 180J. J ^ 



I g- 
o 

o 
3 
3 



GOVERNOR M'KEAN 



And the Tale of the 



CLODHOPPER- 



In the Aurora of the 29th of March hist, the following pas- 
sages are contained, as part of an Extract from a letter, dated 
Lancaster the 2rth March. 

[From the Aurora.] 
" You have not been informed wrong, as to the conduct of 
*' the governor ; but what } ou hav>' been told is very far short 
'^ of the whole truth — the facts as I had them from the speaker 
" are these, he called on the governor to recommend a respec- 
" table neighbor of his for the magistracy in his county ; when 
" the governor, /« a strain of indecent and intemperate invec- 
" tcve fold him that he had already appointed too manij ignora- 
" jmistd ; that the republicans zvere a set of clodhoppers^ who 
'''• had no mo,t understanding than Geese, ajid xvoJidered at their 
" impudence in talking of calling a conventioUn, to alter the consti~ 
'"'• iutionywhich they never did and never could understand; that 
*' he would not allow it , and would take special care to prevent it, 
" &c. The Speaker tells me he continued to talk in this style 
" for fifteen minutes, giving no opportunity either to himself or 
*' to three other gentlemen who were present to ansver him ; 
" and other company coming in the speaker and the other gen- 
" tlemen took the opp6rtunity to leave him to the company." 

The Friends of Governor M'-Kean requested his Son, to ob- 
tain some information, on the subject of this inflammatory pub- 
lication ; and a letter was written, for that purpose, to Mr. 
Thompson, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, who commu- 
nicated the following answer. 

Extract of a letter from Mr. Thompson the Secretary of Pennsylvania, to y. B. 
M'Kean, Esq. dated Lancaster the 2d April, 1805. 
" I am not surprised at your solicitude to know the author, and the 
" truth, of the assertions contained in the extract of the letter, which is 



[ 24. ] 

" published in tlie Aurora, relative to the governor's late interview with 
" some of the niembers of tlie legislature. As to the author, some 

*' say it is the work of ; otiicrs say it is penned by ; but all 

♦' agree it has received some en.beliishment from the pen of . 

" I will not pretend to decide. It gives more satisfaction to be able to 
" assure you, tliat every vian^ w/io iva^ /iresent, declares the {mblication to 
«' be incorrect. I'or instance : Mr. Snvdkr lihnselj, informed me, this 
" evening, that the g(jvernor^ in all hi n ex/ires&ions, alluded particularly to 
*' the /lersom:, who had signed the /ictitions for a convention, arid the advo- 
*' tates of that meaf.ure ; and declared, emphatically, tliat the words, the 
^^ /i-epublicaiis are a(i igno^armiftes, Etc. &c. were not used by the gover- 
<' nor, in the manner represented in the .Aurora." Judge Heston told me 
'• to day, " that ?»ir. Daniei, Montgomery, who was present, cxpli- 
" citly slated, that the word " Refiublicaiis" was not uttered by tlie go- 
" vernor on the occasion ; but that his word was " jigitators ;'' which 
" was, also, the recollection of Mr. Snyder in his communication to me. 
" After all, it is obvious, that the governor spoke his mind to his vi- 
" sitors, with his usual frankness, on the current topics of the day ; and 
*< every man, who has the feelings of a gentleman, will wonder, that there 
" should be any publication, for party purposes, of an accidental, and 
" oft-hand conversation." 

As the Plot to alienate the afFections and confidence of the 
People of Pennsylvania from their venerable Chief Magistrate, 
daily developes itself; and this Tale of the Clodhop/jer, seems to 
be a principal instrument, employed to agitate and mislead the 
public mind, the Governor has been requested to favor his 
friends with an explanation, which we have now the satisfaction 
to lay before our readers. 

Ma. Dallas to the Governor. 
My dear sir, 

Of liie many extraordinary, and? I may add, ungrateful attacks upon 
your fame, and feclir.gs, none has excited more general surprize and 
indignation, than the invective subscril)ed by Mr. Steele, under the impo- 
sing tille of an Address, from certain Members of the Legislature, to 
tl-.eir Constituents. It is not intended, upon this occasion, to give you 
the trouble to enter into the defence of a Character, formed by a long life 
of active patriotism ; but, it is desirable, to obtain from yourself (and 
1 am requested by a number of C^itizens to obtain) a statement of the 
conversation, mentioned in the Certificates annexed to Mr. Steele's pub- 
lication. We are aware of the arts, that have been employed, by dis- 
appointed and restless men, to deprive you of tiie well-earned confidence of 
your couvitry ; and, we suspect, that there is some misapprehension, 
or misrepresentation, of the subject and terras of the conversation, to 
wliich Messrs. M'lLinney and Montgomery aliude. Whatever was the 
fact, we know that you will freely declare it ; and, be assured, there are 
fev/, even among your personal enemies, who will not be conscious of 
the weight of an appeal, under such circumstances, to your own veracity. 

I am, Dear Sir, with constant respect and attachment, 

Your Friend and Humble Serv't. 

A. J. DALLAS. 
To THE Governor. 

22d May, 1805. 



[ 25 ] 

The Governor to Mn. Dallas, 

Philadelpliia, May 25lh, 1305. 
Deak Sir, 

Yo\ 1 favour of the 23d insta'it I have received, and sh:ill wit'i pleu.-.ure 
coiumunii-ate to yDu, ai brlelly as pos;:.,lde, a S'i«t*^inent ol't .e convcr.ation 
wliicli took pluc^.- between Messrs. Snydor a;ul M^iviuiicy and my^t-lf, res- 
pecting; the up[)ointinuiU of justic.sof the peace, and th-; project of a con- 
vention to form u new co istiuuion : A conversi't.oii so liglit, and so unim- 
portant, tinat I did not expect, it could, for any good, or any had purpobc, 
hare been mentioned after tliat day. 

TnesL gentlemen called on me in tne afternoon of the 2 1st day of March 
last, when Mr M'Kinney, a third time, wished nie to appoint Henry 
Latscha a justice of tiie peace for the disturt of Mahonov ; and asked nio 
if Mr. Brunson another candidate, had sent on an addiuonal reconunen- 
dation. I told him tnat he had a very re->pectaljie one, signed by his 
neighbours to tlie num')er of near an lauidred, and also letters from Jo- 
shuA and John Elder of Daup'iin county, John Kean, senator for Dauphin 
and Berks, Hsg'i VVi'ite, a niembei for Lycoming, and Samuel Stewart, 
late sheriff of the latter county, together vvuh the warm comniendation, 
of Henry Spikcr, a jus'Ice of the peace for the county of Northumberland, 
Jeremiali Simpson, register and recorder for the said county, and Mr. 
Thoiaas Cooper, the president of the courts of the circuit. I offered to 
shew him the papers, and olistrved, tl at " these are gentlemen whom I 
" have long known, and can place confidence in ; while, it has been inti- 
" mated, that your opposition to Mr. Biunson, proceeds from personal Bio- 
" tives." Mr. M'Kinney replied, ti at '• lie was not influenced by anj 
" personal resentment, but that Mr. Biunson was not the people's clioice; 
" that he was a federalist ; and tiiat he had not voted for me or the repub- 
" licans." I then stated, " that more than thirty of a majority of the peo- 
" pic, in the neighLourhjod, v.'ho recommended Mr. Latscha, had, also, 
" recomn.'r'nden Mr. Biunson. Beside (I continued) the people of the 
" neighbourhood are not tiie only persons, v/ho are interested in the ap- 
" poiatment of a justice of the peace, for many others might have busi- 
" ness lo trans ict witli him ; tliat I was not, therefore, governed entirely 
" by re ommendations from neighuoui's, but consulted others, respecting 
" the talents and integrity of every citizen, who was named to me for of- 
" fice ; and, upon the vvnole, regulated myself, in my appointments, by 
" my own conscience ; that alti.ough I was responsible to the people for 
" my appoiii'^ments, and if I pleased the people it gave nje satisfaction, a 
" disappointment, in that respect, with a good i onscience, ought not to 
" make me K.iserable ; that Mr. Lalsciia might be a good republican, and 
" may have voted lor me ; but these circumstances alone would not justify 
*' me in making all such magistrates ; for, I believe every sixth man would 
»' wish to be commissioned ; that I had appointed too many men, on ac- 
" count of their being good republicans, without tlieir possessing (as it has 
*' since appeared) other proper qualifications ; and that it would not do, 
" in justice to t!ie public, or lo my own character, to proceed further in this 
« way." Mr. M-Kinney said, that " he would be sorry, if Brunson should 
" be appoint'id ; and that he feared many people might lose money by 
" him." I smiled, and remarked, that" if the sum cognizable by a justice 
" of the peace was reduced to ten pounds, agreealdy to the constitution, 
" there would be little danger on that score ; but, at all events a justice of 
" the peace, by law, had no riglit to receive the money belonging to any 
" suitor." I added, that, " I had already appointed two justices, at the 
" instance of Mr. Snvder and hims-df, uud, that Mr. Brunson, v^-hom \ 

D 



■[ 26 ] 

" had never seen, but wim, I was assurer!, had a knowledge of the Gcr- 
" iiiai), as well as of tlie Knglish l;'.iip;iiap:e, had been represented to n\e, 
as one of t!;e best scholars in the district." Here the conversation ended 
concerning justices. 

Din-ina; thi.s conversation, I held in my hand a newspaper published at 
Vork-town; and, forachanp:e of subject, I adverted t« an address contain- 
ed in it, from a niemlxu- of congress to his constituents. It expressed 
this extraordinary sentiment : ♦- / am now retw-ntd to nnj pl'^ugh, but 1 
'> sf'.aU do my uimo&t at elcctio?is, to prevent oil men (,f lalnitfi^ lanvyerr; and 
" rich men,frt-m bchi,^ elected." Alluding, simply, to the writer of the ad- 
dress, I observed, ironically, tlial, " as he is no longer a member of con- 
" gress, I suppose we sliall luive him, and other such clodpoles, (or, if 
••' they please, clodhoppers) of the same pernicious sentiments, returned as 
" delegates to tlie projected convention 1 Can such men be qualified to Ic- 
" gtslate, or to form systems of government, for so great a state as Penn- 
" sylvania ? Tlic memorial (I continued) for calling a convention, was a pal- 
'■' pable libel; and the men now attempting to destroy cur happy form of go- 
" vernment, were weak, mischievous, and wicked. How (I asked) be- 
'' sides, can any man wlio lias a regard to truth, and is not grossly ig- 
" norant, sign his name to one, at least, of the assertions in the memori- 
*' al ; " that the governor of Fennaijlvania had aft great patronage as the 
?' kihg r,f England ?" I then enumerated, in derision of the assertion, 
jnany of the appointments, which emanate, from the crown of England, 
and contrasted those, with the offices to which the governor of Pennsylva- 
ii;?. c^ppoints, as the mere agent of the people ; and, I think, I dwelt 
particularly, ratlier by way of ridicule, upon the offices of the king's im- 
mediate household (the lord chan\berlain, groom of the stole, lords of the 
bed-chamber, he.) whose emoluments and numbers, far exceeded those 
of all the civil ofhcers of the state. 

Tlie present constitution, likewise, I described to be the production 
of as patriotic, learned, and enlightened men, as, perhaps, evtr assem- 
bled for a similar purpose ; and delivered my opir.ion, that it approached 
as near to perfection, as any that ever did, or now does, exist in the 
world. I exclain^.ed, indeed, '' shall a set of clodpoles, and ignoramus- 
*' ses overthrow it ? No : it cannot be ! I will firmly resist it : I w ill 
"use my utmost exertions, to prevent the danger and the mischief; 
" and I fear not the want of aid and assistance, from all wise and good 
" nien." But this exclamation was clearly applied to the newspaper 
address: ; and to which I, also, alluded in adding, " why are not lawyers 
" and rich men to be as well trusted, in the administration of legal af- 
•'' fairs, as any others? Can any man vote for a new law, who is utterly 
*' ignoianl of the old ? \Vhat kind of interpretation can he give, who is a 
'= stranger to the text, on which he comments ! The lawyers are in 
" the perpetual study of morals, and their duties to society ; nay, the 
•' christian religion is part of the law of the land, which thcv should 
" read and understand ; and surely those, who thoroughly understand, 
" and are governed by, the laws, ought to i)e esteemed among the 
" wisest and best of men." Towards the conclusion of this conversa- 
tion, Daniel Montgomery canie into the room, followed, in a short 
time, by John Steele, and James Patterson ; but to these gentlemen, I 
did not say one word, except in relation to some citizens whom they 
wished me to appoint justices of the peace, but which I declined to do, 
under the impression, that the public convenience did not require it. I 
will conclude, by referring you to the Aurora for another misrepre- 
ser.tation, relating to the interview with Messrs. M'Kinney, Snyder, &c. 
It is there alledged, in an extract of a letter, dated, Lancaster, March 
•', 1805, that " one of the members (Mr. M'Kinney) bad written to 



■<^ 



[ ar ] 



'• the governor c'-manding an exfUanation ; but received no answer.'* i 
now send yo' the original letter; and, you will find, that it does 
nut contain 7 word, beyond his solicitation, for the appointment of his 
friend to br a justice of the peace. Be pleased to return Mr. M'Kinncy's 
letter, \Mien you find it convenient. 

In haste, I am, dear sir, uith sincere attachroent, 
Your friend and obt. servt. 

^ . 1'HOS. M'KEAN. 

Alexandkr J. Dallas, Esquire. 

In another extract of a letter from Lancaster, published in the Jurora 
of the 2d of April last, tlie following passage will be found : 

" No account yet published, has given an adequate idt^' oUfir indecm t 
« msolenreoflhe C.ovcrmr to the Spkakkr. It seems that General Steele 
'• and Mr. Mmtg.miery, of the Senate, and Mr. M-Kinney and Mr Pat 
"terson, Members of the other House, were present. The Speaker 
^' wa.<i so astonished and digested, that he tooK „f^ /„-^ ^^^ ^^^ emitted the 
^^ roomy leavinc^ the others hei-e. One of the Membei^^ivr,. \Ttv;„,,„ >, , 
'■'■ I understand, written t) the Governor, demanding an ^_^^, -' 

,,,,.,' „ "• ANATION, 

" out received no ansivei. 

As the fact, that Mr M'Kinney had written a letter to the Govemof 
on the subject of theirconversation, could only be known by his own com- 
munication, it may be presumed that he, also, represented the letter to 
be " A DEMAND FOR EXPLANATION." We have, therefore, solicited and 
obtained permission to publish verbatim ct literatim et jmnctuatim, the only 
letter which Governor M'Kcan received, at that time, or on that subject, 
from Mr. I* I' Kinney. 

LETTER, &c 

*' Lancaster March 22d, 1805 
Greatest 
Respected Friend / I always had theEsteem for you, I always had a Great 

/ A 

Beleive of your Wisdom and Entegrity But yesterday Morning When I 
asked you About Hugh Brunson you told nie it Was only from Personal 
Motives I Apposed Brunson I tell you it is no Such a thing it is for the 
Publick good that I op posed him James White Brunsons Brotherinlaw 
Who is a Decided Fedaral though being Acquainted With Cooper and 

what 
Simpson Got them to Sign it from motives I Cannot tell, now I must 

A 

tell J^" as I told you Before I am Shure that Cooper nor Simpson Do 
not know hini As Well as I Do and I Do tell you that he is not Calcula- 
ted to Serve the Township of Mahanoy James White and the intended 
Justice Road armel has Persauded the Weaker kind to Recommend Brun- 
son Again White Sc Brunson Did oppose Your Election W^hen I Was 
Oblidged to Stand Between you and them though I Say it myself I was 
the only Person in that Townsiiip Wlio had to Bear the I:-;:i.t brunt and 
You Wont Beleive me But Cast it up to me as it I and the Rest knew 
nothing or that We Did not know how to make Choice of men that 
Would Best Suit us now I tell you if you Sadie Pedaralist on Us as Jus- 
tias You Will not oblidge Us Who are decided Republicans from Y'our 

Humble 

Abraham MeKinney 
Thomas MeKean Esq. > 
N : B But Y'ou Will Oblidge Us if you Commission Henry Latshaw 



j\% 



t. 



t 28 ] 

The people will now be able to judge for themselves, how far the Tale 
of the Cbd/iopt^er, does credit to the invention or to the veyidty of its aa- 
thors ; and we are persuaded, that every candid Editor of i. Republican 
Press, will rejoice in the opportunity to correct the misreprtscntations, 
or prejudices, which hav« already occurred. 



'^ 



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